


Colter

by Crazyhotsoup



Series: Issac & Eliza [1]
Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Arthur Whump, Canonical Character Death, Child Death, Death, Drabble, F/M, Minor Character Death, Suicide, Whump, Whump Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 06:01:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24260092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crazyhotsoup/pseuds/Crazyhotsoup
Summary: The death of Eliza and Isaac reworked to match what Rodger Clarke had said the first idea was.
Relationships: Arthur Morgan & Isaac Morgan, Eliza/Arthur Morgan
Series: Issac & Eliza [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1842367
Comments: 18
Kudos: 58





	Colter

**Author's Note:**

> After watching a panel where Rodger talked about the original idea for Isaac's death I couldn't get it out of my head. I decided to write so I could get it out of my head. 
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifohZGPVBMQ&t=1090s

Colter had been a godsend in their series of bad luck. There were a few buildings that could house them and they would probably retain heat fairly well. Arthur had checked out two of them and then raced back to the caravans. There was no time to waste. People were cold, tired and sick. The gang's lanterns were beacons in the heavy snowstorm. 

"Arthur, any luck?" Dutch's strained voice cut through the wind and he nodded. 

"I found a place where we can get some shelter. Let Davey rest while...you know. An old Mining town, ain't far. Com'on!" He turned his horse back in the direction they came. 

"Come on!" Dutch's voice was the last he heard until they reached Colter. The wind permeated his bones despite the thick winter coat he wore. The gang members were quick to unpack. No one wanted to be out in this weather. Arthur had helped to carry Davey into the old church, turning to leave when Abigail spoke. 

"Davey's dead." Her voice was cold and pinched. He felt a pang of sadness as he headed to the wagon where Eliza was. She had injured her leg during whatever the hell had happened in Blackwater and he needed to help her out of the wagon. A sharp cry of pain had him rushing towards her. She was rocking back and forth, clutching their son to her chest. Her eyes were red and puffy. She looked absolutely wrecked. 

"Eliza!" She sobbed louder and he pulled himself into the wagon with her. His arm wrapped around her shoulder and he pressed a kiss to her forehead. She let out another wail. Arthur bristled and slowly pulled their son from her grasp. Isaac's face was pale and clammy. He felt a cry rip through his chest and pressed his boy closer to himself. The heat, the heat would make it all okay. He dragged Eliza with him as he burst into the already warming chapel. The faces of the gang turned to him. His vision was blurry with tears and he felt his nose beginning to run. He let out another strangled cry and dropped to the floor. Quiet gasps and bursting sobs filled the nearly silent air. All conversation had gone. They were watching as he held his son to his chest, fingers lightly pressing against his small neck, searching for a pulse. The faintest beat and a last exhale broke him. He screamed and mimicked Eliza's previous movements, pushing the boy close to his chest and curled in on himself. His back was curved as he gently rocked in front of the fire. Eliza was yelling at him begging him to do something. 

The world went loud. A deafening roar. He pushed the body of his son into Hosea's arms and shoved past Bill and Charles who had come to investigate the noise. He felt numb. Everything was numb. Eliza still screamed as he stalked into the woods. 

She had laid in their bed for three days. Her quiet sobs intermittently sprinkled in with dead silence. He had avoided her, avoided looking at her heart-shaped face, avoided looking at her jet black hair, avoided her because she looked too much like Isaac. Her leg kept her in bed, although he suspected that she would have been there anyway. He slept in front of the fire in the kitchen. When he entered "their" room he hadn't noticed her absence at first. Preoccupied with searching for his cattleman revolver. He cursed as he set eyes on the empty gunbelt on the trunk. 

"Hey Eliza you seen-?" Her form was gone, leaving a rumpled bed in her place. He cursed again as he ran into the snowy outside. She had the quilt wrapped around her frame as she limped towards the stream that bordered their camp. She stumbled in the snow but kept her balance, moving farther from him. He only called out to her when her arm raised something silvery and leveled it with her temple. 

"Eliza!" His voice high with worry. She whipped around, gun still against her head. She had tears streaming down her face. Eliza's hair was matted from days without washing. Her eyes were crazed and her hand shaking as he took a hesitant step forward. 

"Don't Move, Arthur, or I swear I'll do it." Her voice was fast and insistent. His hands were raised in front of him as if he could stop her from fifteen feet away. Her body was trembling as he slowly extended his leg. His left foot was a step in front of his right then. 

"Arthur." The warning was curt. He froze. 

"You aren't thinking straight. You're just confused. Eliza put down the gun, please just put down the gun." He couldn't lose her, not so soon after him. She let out a laugh and cocked the gun. 

"You know I love you Arthur. I love you so much, but I can't do this. Don't make me do this." She took a step backward and he let out a strangled cry. The 38 caliber went off with a bang. The life leaving her eyes even before she hit the ground. Arthur heard screaming, he heard a yelling and his throat burned. Everything burned. The fresh wound of grief exploding in pain, fingernails being pushed under the loose skin. Tearing, worming, gripping his chest. Seizing his heart. Stealing his breath. He cradled her body to his. His hand worrying over her forehead. Her eyes open and already glazing over. The left side of her head was a mangled mess. Her skull and brains splattered against the ground where he knelt. He rocked with her, the action throwing him back to that night, the first night in Colter. 

"no no no no no no no no. Not you, you can't do this to me. Not after him. You can't. You can't. You can't." His throat burned and his head spun. Hosea and Dutch were there, pulling him away. Abigail and Susan had wrapped the quilt around her, covering her mutilated body. He screamed again and again and again. Dutch and Hosea pulled him into their arms. Holding him while he thrashed. They were all staring. Everyone had come to watch as Arthur mourned his wife. Mourned the woman he loved.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in a feverish state. Should I write a follow up? Would that be something people want? I can do that. I loved writing this and I wouldn't mind writing more :)


End file.
